The spouse of a former cheerleader for the Kansas City Chiefs, who died of sepsis a few days after giving birth to a stillborn daughter, has expressed his sorrow over her departure and called for improved prenatal care for women of color.
Less than two years after their first child, James, also died in a stillbirth, Krystal Anderson, 40, went away on March 20 after giving birth to her stillborn child, Charlotte Willow.
A few hours after her daughter’s death, the former cheerleader developed a fever and eventually passed away from sepsis, a blood infection, which led to cardiac arrest. She was in mourning.
Now, in an effort to remember “the love of his life,” her husband Clayton is stepping out and criticizing the healthcare system for not doing enough to safeguard Black women before, during, and after pregnancy.
Krystal had a cerclage procedure at 16 weeks pregnant, which is a medical procedure that involves temporarily closing the cervix with stitches in order to preserve its viability for the duration of the pregnancy.
Clayton claims that the physicians advised them that it was the best course of action for their unborn child.
Krystal’s physicians planned to admit her to a specialized hospital unit at 22 weeks, which was equipped to manage a periviable birth—the earliest period at which a fetus can survive and develop outside of the womb—after she experienced problems in March, however.